Types of Wallets
There are many different ways to use Bitcoin and so there are many different types of wallets:
Here are some factors to consider when choosing a wallet:
Universal Wallets
Universal wallets are wallets that are available for Android, iOS, Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.
Jaxx Liberty
While not designed as a wallet only for BTC, this wallet has support for many altcoins and has many useful features. Excepting a user-friendly UI, the wallet offers a built-in KYCless exchange, powered by ShapeShift. The users can exchange their coins directly from the wallet, without any registration process. Besides, the wallet offers also a real-time price of the crypto market, similar to CoinMarketCap, and includes also a News section where the users can read various news from the crypto sector. Security-wise: Jaxx is a non-custodial wallet, the users are in control of their private keys and are offered a 12-words recovery phrase, stored locally. Furthermore, the users can lock the wallet's funds with a password.
Desktop Wallets
Desktop wallets are software wallets that are downloaded and installed on your computer. The desktop wallets below are available on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.
Bitcoin Core
Bitcoin Core is the “official” Bitcoin client and wallet, though isn’t used by many due to slow speeds and a lack of features. Bitcoin Core, however, is a full node, meaning it helps verify and transmit other Bitcoin transactions across the network and stores a copy of the entire blockchain. This offers better privacy since Core doesn’t have to rely on data from external servers or other peers on the network. Bitcoin Core routed through Tor is considered one of the best ways to use Bitcoin privately.
Wasabi
"Wasabi is an open-source, non-custodial, privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet for Desktop, that implements trustless coin shuffling with mathematically provable anonymity - Chaumian CoinJoin". This wallet uses Tor by default.
Armory
Armory is the most mature, secure, and full-featured Bitcoin wallet but it can be technologically intimidating for users. Whether you are an individual storing $1,000 or an institution storing $1,000,000,000 this is one of the most secure options available. Users are in complete control of all Bitcoin private keys and can set up a secure offline-signing process in Armory.
Electrum
Electrum may be the most popular desktop wallet, due to its speed and ease of use. Electrum can also be used as cold storage if you have an extra computer that can be used offline. Additionally, Electrum offers other features like connecting through Tor, multisiganture wallets, integration with hardware wallets, and more.
Bitcoin Knots
Alternative to Bitcoin Core, "Bitcoin Knots is a derivative of Bitcoin Core (since 2011 December) with a collection of improvements backported from and sometimes maintained outside of the master git tree".
Mobile Wallets for Android
Samourai
This wallet is very privacy-oriented and it also implemented many privacy features that were implemented by Amir Taaki inside his Dark Wallet. It is available for Android and it has implemented an own version of Chaumian CoinJoin. Additionally, it has built-in TOR support.
Bitcoin Wallet
Bitcoin Wallet was the first Bitcoin wallet for Android. It’s simple, easy to backup, and connects directly to the Bitcoin network with SPV.
Edge
Edge (formerly Airbitz) is another Bitcoin wallet that’s great for everyday use. Edge manages accounts with usernames and passwords but doesn’t have access to your funds. This type of account creation is easier for less technical users who may have trouble backing up or understanding HD seeds. It is open-source.
BlockStream Green
BlockStream Green is the native version of GreenAddress. It’s fast, simple, and supports hardware wallets Trezor One, Ledger Nano S, and Ledger Nano X.
Electrum (Android)
Electrum is among the most popular wallets, due to its speed and ease of use. Electrum can also be used as cold storage if you have an extra computer that can be used offline. Additionally, Electrum offers other features like connecting through Tor, multisiganture wallets, integration with hardware wallets, and more.
Unstoppable (Android)
It is an easy to use, reliable, secure crypto wallet with a focus on privacy. Truly decentralized works directly with Bitcoin network. Open source, code is publicly available. One of few wallets verified by walletscrutiny.com to be exactly as published code on GitHub.
Mobile Wallets for iOS
Breadwallet
Breadwallet’s combination of simplicity and security has made it the most popular iOS wallet. iPhone users in search of their first Bitcoin wallet should findBreadwallet easy to understand.
BlockStream Green
BlockStream Green is also available in the App Store.
Edge
Edge (formerly Airbitz) is also available in the App Store.
Unstoppable (iOS)
It is an easy to use, reliable, secure crypto wallet with a focus on privacy. Truly decentralized works directly with Bitcoin network. Open source, code is publicly available. One of few wallets verified by walletscrutiny.com to be exactly as published code on GitHub. Available on App Store. User-friendly design, non-custodial secure storage, privacy-oriented features.
Online Bitcoin Wallets
Online Bitcoin wallets, or web wallets, store your private keys online. Wallets can only be accessed with a user-set password.
BitGo
BitGo is a high-security multi-sig wallet, which protects your bitcoin from theft and loss. You maintain full custody; BitGo cannot spend or freeze funds. BitGo wallets are easy to use and offer advanced security features such as spending limits and multi-user access
Coin.Space
Coin.Space HD Wallet is a free online bitcoin wallet, which you can use to make worldwide payments for free. It makes paying with bitcoins easy and secure available anywhere on your phone or desktop.
Xapo
Xapo combines the convenience of an everyday Bitcoin wallet with the security of an insured deep cold storage vault. Xapo Debit Card links to your Xapo Wallet and allows you to spend bitcoins at millions of merchants all around the world.
Paper Wallets
Paper wallets were the standard method of cold storage before hardware wallets were built. Paper wallets are private keys printed out on a piece of paper. If generated and printed with a secure, offline computer, paper wallets are secure cold storage.
The main problem with paper wallets is it can be inconvenient to create and print a new wallet each time you send funds to cold storage. However, it’s possible to bulk print paper wallets to save time and eliminate address reuse. Here's a cold storage guide that explains step-by-step how to create a secure paper wallet.
Hardware Wallets
Hardware wallets are small computers or smartcards built with the sole purpose of generating Bitcoin private keys offline. Hardware wallets securely sign transactions in the same offline environment.
Ledger Nano
The Ledger Nano is a smartcard-based hardware wallet. Private keys are generated and signed offline in the smartcard’s secure environment. The Nano is set up using the Ledger Chrome Application. A random 24-word seed is generated upon setup and backed offline by writing it down on a piece of paper. In case of theft, damage, or loss, the entire wallet can be recreated with the seed. A user-selected PIN code is also assigned to the device to protect against physical theft or hacking. The Ledger Nano may be used on any computer, or Android phone with Mycelium or BlockStream Green.
Trezor
The TREZOR differs from the Ledger Nano in that it’s a very tiny computer rather than a smartcard. Private keys are still generated offline.
TREZOR also generates a 24-word seed upon setup. The TREZOR has it's own built-in screen where the seed is displayed and copied down during backup. Since the TREZOR is an offline device it offers extra security since the seed isn’t displayed on an online computer. An additional passphrase can be added to the 24-word seed. This provides extra protection since anyone who finds someone else’s 24-word seed is free to access the funds. If the optional passphrase is added, an attacker still wouldn’t be able to access funds without both the seed AND the passphrase. If the passphrase is forgotten, it cannot be recovered.
OPENDIME
The first Bitcoin Bearer Bond or called a Bitcoin Stick. Opendime is a small USB stick that allows you to spend Bitcoin like a dollar bill. Pass it along multiple times. Connect to any USB to check balance. Unseal anytime to spend online. Trust no one. Acts like a read-only USB flash drive. Works with any computer, laptop, and phone. A QR Picture and Text file inside contain Bitcoin address and support. The private key is generated inside the device, and is never known to any human, not even you!
KeepKey
This hardware wallet is offered by ShapeShift, a company that bought KeepKey in the past. It functions in a similar way compared to Nano and Trezor, but there are also some differences. Physically speaking, this is a very robust product. Twice as big as the Nano or Trezor, KeepKey's dimensions are 38 x 93.5 x 12.2 mm. The product is equipped with a large 256×64 3.12″ OLED screen, which is big enough for being able to display QR codes. However, due to its impressive size, this wallet is not feasible to be carried out. It supports fewer cryptocurrencies compared to Nano / Trezor but as a plus it offers a built-in ShapeShift exchange, allowing the users to exchange their coins directly from the hardware wallet. Although KeepKey can be used on Windows, Linux, and macOS, on the official website it is stated that it is "optimized for MacOS. Not recommended for Windows".
Cobo Vault
This may be the safest wallet on the market as far as durability is concerned, being suitable for usage in extreme conditions. Literally speaking. The product meets the US military standard MIL-STD-810G regarding durability, temperature shock, salt/fog resistance, vibration, and high/low-temperatures usage and storage. It is also certified as IP68 water resistant and IK9 impact resistant. For improved security, the wallet is completely air-gapped and it works just in offline mode, as it has no connectivity (no USB / WiFi / 3G/4G / NFC / Bluetooth). Cobo Vault supports various cryptocurrencies and tokens and its enhanced security comes with an expensive price: it can be bought for 99$ / 149$ or 479$, depending on the chosen model.
Lightning Network (LN) Wallets
Eclair Mobile
Open-source, non-custodial wallet, available for Android. Eclair was coded in Scala by ACINQ and it is the first mobile Lightning Network wallet, representing a huge advantage compared with its successors, at least in terms of usage. It can be used both as a regular Bitcoin wallet and as a Lightning Network wallet and it runs on mainnet.
Zap
A powerful tool for Lightning Network which is still in the Beta stage of development. The wallet is cross-platform, being available on Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android and iOS. It has open-source code and it is non-custodial, the users having control over their private keys. The users have the option to create multiple wallets and run LN transactions in privacy, on mainnet. Future developments will include connecting to Lightning nodes over Tor and running full nodes.
Spark
Open-source, non-custodial, cross-platform LN wallet, available for desktop (Windows, Linux, Mac), Android, and iOS. The wallet runs on c-lightning, which is a Lightning Network implementation in C. Users will face a simple interface and a near-zero configuration, while having their privacy-enhanced: Spark installs Tor automatically. Do not confuse Spark LN wallet with IOTA Spark wallet, as the one mentioned here is a Lightning Network software developed by Nadav Ivgy, while IOTA Spark is a low-security and temporary web wallet named also a “burner wallet”, developed by IOTA Labs. The wallets are totally different and serve different purposes/cryptocurrencies (IOTA is a known scam coin).
General guidelines for LN wallets: except for the three wallets listed above, be aware that several other LN wallets are available on Internet, including, but not limited to LND Thin Wallet, Shango, Wallet of Satoshi, Breez, Blue Wallet, Bitcoin Lightning Wallet, Peach Wallet, etc. However, we can only test and recommend so many. Use them only after performing due diligence and also have in mind that not all of them are final products - some run on testnet and others on the mainnet.
Not recommended or outdated Wallets
These wallets are either not-recommended for some reason or outdated. You should not use them! Please note that here we only list wallets that were previously on the list, or were suggested to be included by others. This does not include ALL wallets that exist and is not recommended. Wallets that are strongly not recommended:
Best Practices
Bitcoin lets you control your money, meaning you are responsible for both your money’s security and your financial privacy. Here are some steps you can take to ensure your privacy and security:
Control your private keys
Services like Coinbase and Circle offer “Bitcoin wallets”, but in reality control your private keys. It’s best to use a wallet where you control your private keys. This is the only way to have full control of your funds and not have to rely on third parties for security.
Protect your privacy
Each time you request blockchain data from a wallet, the server may be able to view your IP address and connect this to the address data requested. Each wallet handles data requests differently. If privacy is important to you, use a wallet that downloads the whole blockchain like Bitcoin Core or Armory. Tor can be used with other wallets to shield your IP address, but this doesn’t prevent a server from tying a group of addresses to one identity. For more information, check out the Open Bitcoin Privacy Project for wallet rankings based on privacy.
Don’t reuse addresses
Most Bitcoin wallets today automatically create a new address for each transaction. Since all Bitcoin transactions are public, address reuse makes it easy for others to group transactions and understand which payments are connected to one identity.
Use different wallets for different sums of money
Just like you don’t walk around with your savings account as cash, there are different Bitcoin wallets that should be used depending on how much money is being stored or transferred. Secure wallets like paper wallets or hardware wallets can be used as “savings” wallets, while mobile, web, and desktop wallets should be treated like your spending wallet.
Create multiple secure backups
Users should create multiple backups of their wallets. Backups should be kept in separate physical locations in the case of fire or water damage. Paper wallets can be laminated or written in metal for extra protection.
General guidelines
Web wallets, custodial wallets, and wallets requiring KYC should be avoided. Wallets with a shady reputation or whose name doesn't tell you anything should also be avoided, at least until you do your due diligence. Also, discontinued products should never be used. Additionally, be careful when using misleading services which make you believe you control crypto, but in fact, you have CFDs (eToro, Revolut, etc.).
How to Store Bitcoins
Earlier it was mentioned that there are four types of Bitcoin wallets: online wallets, hardware wallets, software wallets, and paper wallets. These four categories can be broken down further into different kinds of storage and security:
Hot Wallets
Hot wallets refer to Bitcoin wallets used on internet-connected devices like phones, computers, or tablets. Because hot wallets run on internet-connected devices there is always a risk of theft. Think of hot wallets like your wallet today. You shouldn’t store any significant amount of bitcoins in a hot wallet, just as you would not walk around with your savings account as cash.
If only used with small amounts, hot wallets should be used for your everyday Bitcoin needs. One may, for example, want to keep $200 worth of bitcoins in a hot wallet for spending, with $10,000 locked away in cold storage.
Custodial Services
Although often called Bitcoin wallets, services like Coinbase and Circle aren’t true Bitcoin wallets. Customers' private keys are held by these third-party services, meaning users don’t really have control of their money. As Bitcoiners often say: “if you don’t control the keys, you don’t control the coins”. Mt. Gox is an extreme example, but one that illustrates the importance of holding private keys. Gox was the first and largest Bitcoin exchange up until 2013. Thousands of users stored more than 800,000 bitcoins in their Gox accounts.
At the time, one may have claimed to have 1,000 bitcoins in a Gox account. While true at the time, as soon as Mt. Gox claimed to have been the victim of theft users with bitcoins in their accounts were left empty-handed. Services like Coinbase and Circle may in fact use good security practices and there’s a chance your bitcoins are safe. But by storing bitcoins with a third party you are always taking on additional risks.
Cold Storage
Cold storage is achieved when Bitcoin private keys are created and stored offline. Private keys stored offline are more secure since there is no risk that a hacker or malware could steal your coins.
There are three ways to create cold storage: paper wallets, hardware wallets, and software wallets that run on offline computers. Think of cold storage as your savings account. Use it to securely store bitcoins that you don’t plan to spend.
Multisignature Wallets
Multisignature wallets like Electrum make it easier to share control of bitcoins between multiple parties. If created offline, multisig can also make cold storage more secure.
Multisignature wallets require multiple parties to sign transactions in order for funds to be spent. In a 2-2 wallet, for example, both parties must sign a transaction. In a 2-3 multisig wallet, two of the three co-signers must sign each transaction.
Armory Multisig
Armory offers a Lockbox feature that requires any amount of up to seven co-signers to approve shared transactions. A Lockbox is created by one party who adds additional public keys as co-signers. This solution provides a mix of flexibility and security for personal use or organizations.
Armory’s fragmented backups is another useful feature. Instead of requiring multiple signatures for each transaction, fragmented backups require multiple signatures only for backups. A fragmented backup splits up your Armory backup into multiple pieces, which decreases the risk of physical theft of your wallet. Without a fragmented backup, the discovery of your backup would allow for immediate theft. With fragmented backup, multiple backup locations would need to be compromised in order to obtain the full backup.
Here's a look at some everyday use cases for multisig:
2-2 Wallet
Two business partners work together at a startup. They create a 2-2 multisig wallet so that no funds can be spent without the permission of both founders. If one tries to create a transaction, the other partner will be required to sign off on the transaction before money can be moved.
2-3 Wallet
A 2-3 multisig wallet could be used to create secure offline storage with paper wallets or hardware wallets. Users should already backup their offline Bitcoin holdings in multiple locations, and multisig helps add another level of security. A user, for example, may keep a backup of a paper wallet in three separate physical locations. If any single location is compromised the user’s funds can be stolen. Multisignature wallets improve upon this by requiring instead any two of the three backups to spend funds--in the case of a 2-3 multisig wallet. The same setup can be created with any number of signatures. A 5-9 wallet would require any five of the nine signatures in order to spend funds.
Credits: A huge shoutout to WeUseCoins and bitcointalk.org for making an extremely detailed list that was used during the creation of this thread.
Additionally a huge shoutout to everyone who privately or publicly contributed to this thread.
There are many different ways to use Bitcoin and so there are many different types of wallets:
- Online bitcoin wallets. Wallets can be accessed on the web from any internet-connected device.
- Software wallets. Wallet applications are downloaded to your phone, computer or tablet.
- Bitcoin hardware wallets. Physical devices designed to secure bitcoins.
- Paper wallets. Bitcoin private keys are printed from an offline computer.
Here are some factors to consider when choosing a wallet:
- On the go? If you are making payments in person and not online then a mobile wallet like breadwallet (iOS) or Edge (Android) is a must.
- Frequency of payments: If you will need to make frequent payments then it will be best to keep your funds in a wallet that is easy to use and accessible. Mobile wallets and desktop wallets are good options.
- Amount: If you are dealing with large amounts of bitcoins you will need a secure wallet. Hardware wallets and secure offline wallets like Armory are good options.
- Use combinations: Use a mobile wallet as your checking account, and a hardware or secure offline wallet as your savings account. Mix and match to find a combination that provides both security and accessibility.
Universal Wallets
Universal wallets are wallets that are available for Android, iOS, Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.
Jaxx Liberty
While not designed as a wallet only for BTC, this wallet has support for many altcoins and has many useful features. Excepting a user-friendly UI, the wallet offers a built-in KYCless exchange, powered by ShapeShift. The users can exchange their coins directly from the wallet, without any registration process. Besides, the wallet offers also a real-time price of the crypto market, similar to CoinMarketCap, and includes also a News section where the users can read various news from the crypto sector. Security-wise: Jaxx is a non-custodial wallet, the users are in control of their private keys and are offered a 12-words recovery phrase, stored locally. Furthermore, the users can lock the wallet's funds with a password.
Desktop Wallets
Desktop wallets are software wallets that are downloaded and installed on your computer. The desktop wallets below are available on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.
Bitcoin Core
Bitcoin Core is the “official” Bitcoin client and wallet, though isn’t used by many due to slow speeds and a lack of features. Bitcoin Core, however, is a full node, meaning it helps verify and transmit other Bitcoin transactions across the network and stores a copy of the entire blockchain. This offers better privacy since Core doesn’t have to rely on data from external servers or other peers on the network. Bitcoin Core routed through Tor is considered one of the best ways to use Bitcoin privately.
Wasabi
"Wasabi is an open-source, non-custodial, privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet for Desktop, that implements trustless coin shuffling with mathematically provable anonymity - Chaumian CoinJoin". This wallet uses Tor by default.
Armory
Armory is the most mature, secure, and full-featured Bitcoin wallet but it can be technologically intimidating for users. Whether you are an individual storing $1,000 or an institution storing $1,000,000,000 this is one of the most secure options available. Users are in complete control of all Bitcoin private keys and can set up a secure offline-signing process in Armory.
Electrum
Electrum may be the most popular desktop wallet, due to its speed and ease of use. Electrum can also be used as cold storage if you have an extra computer that can be used offline. Additionally, Electrum offers other features like connecting through Tor, multisiganture wallets, integration with hardware wallets, and more.
Bitcoin Knots
Alternative to Bitcoin Core, "Bitcoin Knots is a derivative of Bitcoin Core (since 2011 December) with a collection of improvements backported from and sometimes maintained outside of the master git tree".
Mobile Wallets for Android
Samourai
This wallet is very privacy-oriented and it also implemented many privacy features that were implemented by Amir Taaki inside his Dark Wallet. It is available for Android and it has implemented an own version of Chaumian CoinJoin. Additionally, it has built-in TOR support.
Bitcoin Wallet
Bitcoin Wallet was the first Bitcoin wallet for Android. It’s simple, easy to backup, and connects directly to the Bitcoin network with SPV.
Edge
Edge (formerly Airbitz) is another Bitcoin wallet that’s great for everyday use. Edge manages accounts with usernames and passwords but doesn’t have access to your funds. This type of account creation is easier for less technical users who may have trouble backing up or understanding HD seeds. It is open-source.
BlockStream Green
BlockStream Green is the native version of GreenAddress. It’s fast, simple, and supports hardware wallets Trezor One, Ledger Nano S, and Ledger Nano X.
Electrum (Android)
Electrum is among the most popular wallets, due to its speed and ease of use. Electrum can also be used as cold storage if you have an extra computer that can be used offline. Additionally, Electrum offers other features like connecting through Tor, multisiganture wallets, integration with hardware wallets, and more.
Unstoppable (Android)
It is an easy to use, reliable, secure crypto wallet with a focus on privacy. Truly decentralized works directly with Bitcoin network. Open source, code is publicly available. One of few wallets verified by walletscrutiny.com to be exactly as published code on GitHub.
Mobile Wallets for iOS
Breadwallet
Breadwallet’s combination of simplicity and security has made it the most popular iOS wallet. iPhone users in search of their first Bitcoin wallet should findBreadwallet easy to understand.
BlockStream Green
BlockStream Green is also available in the App Store.
Edge
Edge (formerly Airbitz) is also available in the App Store.
Unstoppable (iOS)
It is an easy to use, reliable, secure crypto wallet with a focus on privacy. Truly decentralized works directly with Bitcoin network. Open source, code is publicly available. One of few wallets verified by walletscrutiny.com to be exactly as published code on GitHub. Available on App Store. User-friendly design, non-custodial secure storage, privacy-oriented features.
Online Bitcoin Wallets
Online Bitcoin wallets, or web wallets, store your private keys online. Wallets can only be accessed with a user-set password.
BitGo
BitGo is a high-security multi-sig wallet, which protects your bitcoin from theft and loss. You maintain full custody; BitGo cannot spend or freeze funds. BitGo wallets are easy to use and offer advanced security features such as spending limits and multi-user access
Coin.Space
Coin.Space HD Wallet is a free online bitcoin wallet, which you can use to make worldwide payments for free. It makes paying with bitcoins easy and secure available anywhere on your phone or desktop.
Xapo
Xapo combines the convenience of an everyday Bitcoin wallet with the security of an insured deep cold storage vault. Xapo Debit Card links to your Xapo Wallet and allows you to spend bitcoins at millions of merchants all around the world.
Paper Wallets
Paper wallets were the standard method of cold storage before hardware wallets were built. Paper wallets are private keys printed out on a piece of paper. If generated and printed with a secure, offline computer, paper wallets are secure cold storage.
The main problem with paper wallets is it can be inconvenient to create and print a new wallet each time you send funds to cold storage. However, it’s possible to bulk print paper wallets to save time and eliminate address reuse. Here's a cold storage guide that explains step-by-step how to create a secure paper wallet.
Hardware Wallets
Hardware wallets are small computers or smartcards built with the sole purpose of generating Bitcoin private keys offline. Hardware wallets securely sign transactions in the same offline environment.
Ledger Nano
The Ledger Nano is a smartcard-based hardware wallet. Private keys are generated and signed offline in the smartcard’s secure environment. The Nano is set up using the Ledger Chrome Application. A random 24-word seed is generated upon setup and backed offline by writing it down on a piece of paper. In case of theft, damage, or loss, the entire wallet can be recreated with the seed. A user-selected PIN code is also assigned to the device to protect against physical theft or hacking. The Ledger Nano may be used on any computer, or Android phone with Mycelium or BlockStream Green.
Trezor
The TREZOR differs from the Ledger Nano in that it’s a very tiny computer rather than a smartcard. Private keys are still generated offline.
TREZOR also generates a 24-word seed upon setup. The TREZOR has it's own built-in screen where the seed is displayed and copied down during backup. Since the TREZOR is an offline device it offers extra security since the seed isn’t displayed on an online computer. An additional passphrase can be added to the 24-word seed. This provides extra protection since anyone who finds someone else’s 24-word seed is free to access the funds. If the optional passphrase is added, an attacker still wouldn’t be able to access funds without both the seed AND the passphrase. If the passphrase is forgotten, it cannot be recovered.
OPENDIME
The first Bitcoin Bearer Bond or called a Bitcoin Stick. Opendime is a small USB stick that allows you to spend Bitcoin like a dollar bill. Pass it along multiple times. Connect to any USB to check balance. Unseal anytime to spend online. Trust no one. Acts like a read-only USB flash drive. Works with any computer, laptop, and phone. A QR Picture and Text file inside contain Bitcoin address and support. The private key is generated inside the device, and is never known to any human, not even you!
KeepKey
This hardware wallet is offered by ShapeShift, a company that bought KeepKey in the past. It functions in a similar way compared to Nano and Trezor, but there are also some differences. Physically speaking, this is a very robust product. Twice as big as the Nano or Trezor, KeepKey's dimensions are 38 x 93.5 x 12.2 mm. The product is equipped with a large 256×64 3.12″ OLED screen, which is big enough for being able to display QR codes. However, due to its impressive size, this wallet is not feasible to be carried out. It supports fewer cryptocurrencies compared to Nano / Trezor but as a plus it offers a built-in ShapeShift exchange, allowing the users to exchange their coins directly from the hardware wallet. Although KeepKey can be used on Windows, Linux, and macOS, on the official website it is stated that it is "optimized for MacOS. Not recommended for Windows".
Cobo Vault
This may be the safest wallet on the market as far as durability is concerned, being suitable for usage in extreme conditions. Literally speaking. The product meets the US military standard MIL-STD-810G regarding durability, temperature shock, salt/fog resistance, vibration, and high/low-temperatures usage and storage. It is also certified as IP68 water resistant and IK9 impact resistant. For improved security, the wallet is completely air-gapped and it works just in offline mode, as it has no connectivity (no USB / WiFi / 3G/4G / NFC / Bluetooth). Cobo Vault supports various cryptocurrencies and tokens and its enhanced security comes with an expensive price: it can be bought for 99$ / 149$ or 479$, depending on the chosen model.
Lightning Network (LN) Wallets
Eclair Mobile
Open-source, non-custodial wallet, available for Android. Eclair was coded in Scala by ACINQ and it is the first mobile Lightning Network wallet, representing a huge advantage compared with its successors, at least in terms of usage. It can be used both as a regular Bitcoin wallet and as a Lightning Network wallet and it runs on mainnet.
Zap
A powerful tool for Lightning Network which is still in the Beta stage of development. The wallet is cross-platform, being available on Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android and iOS. It has open-source code and it is non-custodial, the users having control over their private keys. The users have the option to create multiple wallets and run LN transactions in privacy, on mainnet. Future developments will include connecting to Lightning nodes over Tor and running full nodes.
Spark
Open-source, non-custodial, cross-platform LN wallet, available for desktop (Windows, Linux, Mac), Android, and iOS. The wallet runs on c-lightning, which is a Lightning Network implementation in C. Users will face a simple interface and a near-zero configuration, while having their privacy-enhanced: Spark installs Tor automatically. Do not confuse Spark LN wallet with IOTA Spark wallet, as the one mentioned here is a Lightning Network software developed by Nadav Ivgy, while IOTA Spark is a low-security and temporary web wallet named also a “burner wallet”, developed by IOTA Labs. The wallets are totally different and serve different purposes/cryptocurrencies (IOTA is a known scam coin).
General guidelines for LN wallets: except for the three wallets listed above, be aware that several other LN wallets are available on Internet, including, but not limited to LND Thin Wallet, Shango, Wallet of Satoshi, Breez, Blue Wallet, Bitcoin Lightning Wallet, Peach Wallet, etc. However, we can only test and recommend so many. Use them only after performing due diligence and also have in mind that not all of them are final products - some run on testnet and others on the mainnet.
Not recommended or outdated Wallets
These wallets are either not-recommended for some reason or outdated. You should not use them! Please note that here we only list wallets that were previously on the list, or were suggested to be included by others. This does not include ALL wallets that exist and is not recommended. Wallets that are strongly not recommended:
- Copay, Bitpay, Blockchain.info, BTC.com — untrustworthy, misleading customers, high fees, lacking implementation.
- Mycelium — iOS app has been abandoned. Mycelium team was involved in various unethical scandals, e.g. raising money from ICOs, partying with the collected money, and more.
- Multibit — This wallet is discontinued: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2293714.0.
- Coinbase, Freewallet — Custodial wallets. Freewallet has also many scam accusations against it.
- Ledger HW.1, Ledger Unplugged — Discontinued hardware wallets.
- Bitfi - John McAfee's "unhackable" hardware wallet, named also “the world’s first unhackable device”. Besides McAffee's notorious lack of ethics and besides the admitted vulnerabilities of this product, McAffee offered in 2018 a 100.000$ bounty (raised afterward to 250.000$) to anyone able to hack the hardware wallet. One week later, a 15 years old teen cracked the wallet and launched Doom on it, but he never received a dime from McAffee.
- Coinomi — Initially open source, then changed again to closed source. Had controversial situations in the past. More information can be found here.
- Trust Wallet — Mislead users that it was open-source (only the iOS app was). Later both versions of the wallet became a closed source. They have not provided a reasonable explanation for this. More information can be found here, and here.
- Exodus — high fees (not customizable), security flaws, sync problems.
Best Practices
Bitcoin lets you control your money, meaning you are responsible for both your money’s security and your financial privacy. Here are some steps you can take to ensure your privacy and security:
Control your private keys
Services like Coinbase and Circle offer “Bitcoin wallets”, but in reality control your private keys. It’s best to use a wallet where you control your private keys. This is the only way to have full control of your funds and not have to rely on third parties for security.
Protect your privacy
Each time you request blockchain data from a wallet, the server may be able to view your IP address and connect this to the address data requested. Each wallet handles data requests differently. If privacy is important to you, use a wallet that downloads the whole blockchain like Bitcoin Core or Armory. Tor can be used with other wallets to shield your IP address, but this doesn’t prevent a server from tying a group of addresses to one identity. For more information, check out the Open Bitcoin Privacy Project for wallet rankings based on privacy.
Don’t reuse addresses
Most Bitcoin wallets today automatically create a new address for each transaction. Since all Bitcoin transactions are public, address reuse makes it easy for others to group transactions and understand which payments are connected to one identity.
Use different wallets for different sums of money
Just like you don’t walk around with your savings account as cash, there are different Bitcoin wallets that should be used depending on how much money is being stored or transferred. Secure wallets like paper wallets or hardware wallets can be used as “savings” wallets, while mobile, web, and desktop wallets should be treated like your spending wallet.
Create multiple secure backups
Users should create multiple backups of their wallets. Backups should be kept in separate physical locations in the case of fire or water damage. Paper wallets can be laminated or written in metal for extra protection.
General guidelines
Web wallets, custodial wallets, and wallets requiring KYC should be avoided. Wallets with a shady reputation or whose name doesn't tell you anything should also be avoided, at least until you do your due diligence. Also, discontinued products should never be used. Additionally, be careful when using misleading services which make you believe you control crypto, but in fact, you have CFDs (eToro, Revolut, etc.).
How to Store Bitcoins
Earlier it was mentioned that there are four types of Bitcoin wallets: online wallets, hardware wallets, software wallets, and paper wallets. These four categories can be broken down further into different kinds of storage and security:
Hot Wallets
Hot wallets refer to Bitcoin wallets used on internet-connected devices like phones, computers, or tablets. Because hot wallets run on internet-connected devices there is always a risk of theft. Think of hot wallets like your wallet today. You shouldn’t store any significant amount of bitcoins in a hot wallet, just as you would not walk around with your savings account as cash.
If only used with small amounts, hot wallets should be used for your everyday Bitcoin needs. One may, for example, want to keep $200 worth of bitcoins in a hot wallet for spending, with $10,000 locked away in cold storage.
Custodial Services
Although often called Bitcoin wallets, services like Coinbase and Circle aren’t true Bitcoin wallets. Customers' private keys are held by these third-party services, meaning users don’t really have control of their money. As Bitcoiners often say: “if you don’t control the keys, you don’t control the coins”. Mt. Gox is an extreme example, but one that illustrates the importance of holding private keys. Gox was the first and largest Bitcoin exchange up until 2013. Thousands of users stored more than 800,000 bitcoins in their Gox accounts.
At the time, one may have claimed to have 1,000 bitcoins in a Gox account. While true at the time, as soon as Mt. Gox claimed to have been the victim of theft users with bitcoins in their accounts were left empty-handed. Services like Coinbase and Circle may in fact use good security practices and there’s a chance your bitcoins are safe. But by storing bitcoins with a third party you are always taking on additional risks.
Cold Storage
Cold storage is achieved when Bitcoin private keys are created and stored offline. Private keys stored offline are more secure since there is no risk that a hacker or malware could steal your coins.
There are three ways to create cold storage: paper wallets, hardware wallets, and software wallets that run on offline computers. Think of cold storage as your savings account. Use it to securely store bitcoins that you don’t plan to spend.
Multisignature Wallets
Multisignature wallets like Electrum make it easier to share control of bitcoins between multiple parties. If created offline, multisig can also make cold storage more secure.
Multisignature wallets require multiple parties to sign transactions in order for funds to be spent. In a 2-2 wallet, for example, both parties must sign a transaction. In a 2-3 multisig wallet, two of the three co-signers must sign each transaction.
Armory Multisig
Armory offers a Lockbox feature that requires any amount of up to seven co-signers to approve shared transactions. A Lockbox is created by one party who adds additional public keys as co-signers. This solution provides a mix of flexibility and security for personal use or organizations.
Armory’s fragmented backups is another useful feature. Instead of requiring multiple signatures for each transaction, fragmented backups require multiple signatures only for backups. A fragmented backup splits up your Armory backup into multiple pieces, which decreases the risk of physical theft of your wallet. Without a fragmented backup, the discovery of your backup would allow for immediate theft. With fragmented backup, multiple backup locations would need to be compromised in order to obtain the full backup.
Here's a look at some everyday use cases for multisig:
2-2 Wallet
Two business partners work together at a startup. They create a 2-2 multisig wallet so that no funds can be spent without the permission of both founders. If one tries to create a transaction, the other partner will be required to sign off on the transaction before money can be moved.
2-3 Wallet
A 2-3 multisig wallet could be used to create secure offline storage with paper wallets or hardware wallets. Users should already backup their offline Bitcoin holdings in multiple locations, and multisig helps add another level of security. A user, for example, may keep a backup of a paper wallet in three separate physical locations. If any single location is compromised the user’s funds can be stolen. Multisignature wallets improve upon this by requiring instead any two of the three backups to spend funds--in the case of a 2-3 multisig wallet. The same setup can be created with any number of signatures. A 5-9 wallet would require any five of the nine signatures in order to spend funds.
Credits: A huge shoutout to WeUseCoins and bitcointalk.org for making an extremely detailed list that was used during the creation of this thread.
Additionally a huge shoutout to everyone who privately or publicly contributed to this thread.
